frequently asked questions

General

1. I have noticed that you have a soils layer for the entire South Africa on your website. I am however unable to download this information. Could you please assist me?
2. Is it possible for me to obtain a DVD/CD of the maps found on the BGIS website?
3. Is there an altitude layer available on the BGIS website?
4. I'm looking for all biodiversity information related to the XXXX municipality.
5. I am undertaking a Basic Assessment for a farm near Porterville. I need to know the ecosystem status and vegetation types that fall within this area. How would I be able to use your website to obtain this information?
6. I would like to download all the data derived from the NSBA2004 project. What is the easiest way for me to do this?
7. What is DTM?
8. Is there a social density layer?
9. Is it possible to upload your own imagery or upload a photograph onto a bookmarked map?
10. Must your points be in decimal degrees?
11. I would like a list of species that occurs within an ERF in the XXXX municipality.

Troubleshooting

1. My interactive mapping map won't open up.
2. How do I disable the popup blocker?

LUDS tool

1. When I click on the [Download the Google Earth (KML) file] link, I get an error message.

Online mapping

1. How do I add the 1:50000 topocadastral sheets as a layer in the online maps?

General

Unfortunately the soils layer along with all the other base data (e.g. roads, towns, provinces, etc.) on our website are not for download. They are only available for viewing to allow the user to orientate themselves. Each base layer does however have an accompanying metadata sheet for download. This metadata sheet will give you information as to where you can obtain the base layers.

The BGIS unit does have a DVD which contains all the reports, maps and shapefiles that are currently found on the website. The DVD is freely available. To obtain a copy of the DVD contact Sediqa Khatieb at 021 799 8738. Note that the DVD will not be posted to any individuals. Users requiring the DVD will need to retrieve it from SANBI's Kirstenbosch offices.

There is an altitude layer available BUT it is only viewable if you use the Species Distribution Tool. It is not available for download.

To determine whether there is any biodiversity information for your particular municipality use the Municipal Biodiversity Plan Index. Click on the Services tab on the home page. The page is divided into two sections. In the left hand column there is a list of all the various decision-support tools available on the website. Click on the Municipal Biodiversity Plan Index link. A map of South Africa's various provinces will appear. Select the province for which your municipality falls within. Then select the municipality. Alternately you could use the drop-down list

The BGIS unit has developed a Land Use Decision Support tool found under the Services page. The Services page is divided into two sections. In the left hand column there is a list of all the various decision-support tools available on the website. Click on the Use this tool link found below the words: “Land Use Decision Support Tool”. The interactive mapping page should open up. The first thing you will need to do is register. If you're a registered user simply type in your email address and select the type of assessment you are conducting, from the drop-down list. Then follow the simple three step process.

The easiest way for you to do this is to head straight over to the interactive mapping page. Click on the maps tab on the home page. A list of provinces will appear. Under is province there is a list of biodiversity information products available for that particular province. Note that not all provinces have biodiversity information related to it. Click on the biodiversity map that interests you. If you pop blocker has been disabled two pages will open up, one of them being the interactive mapping map. On this page there is a download tab. The minute you click on this layer a list of downloadable shapefiles should appear. Click on the name of the file that you would like to download.

DTM is an acronym for Digital Terrain Model. It is also known as Digital Elevation Model (DEM). It is a digital representation of ground surface topography or terrain.

The BGIS website does not host a social density layer. The BGIS website only hosts biodiversity and relation spatial data. To obtain a population density layer for South Africa please contact STATS SA (www.statssa.gov.za).

As yet, it is not possible to upload your own imagery or photograph onto the BGIS site. The site only allows individuals to upload shapefiles or coordinates in Comma Separated Value (.csv) format. Other upload formats will be made available as we develop our interfaces.

The X and Y coordinates must be in Decimal Degrees so for southern Africa Y will be negative and X positive.

The Land Use Decision Support Tool has a component that derives the species list of plants for a particular land parcel. Unfortunately the names of rare and endangered plants are not included on this list. The list is also only accurate to a quarter degree square.

Troubleshooting

This site has been optimised for use with Internet Explorer (IE) and you may experience problems using other browsers. The interactive map viewer also requires users to disable their pop-up functionality.

Click on the tools menu of your internet browser and click "Turn off pop-up blocker".

LUDS tool

This is a common error with Internet Explorer 7 and 8, which try to open the file themselves. Instead of clicking on the link to open the file, please right click, select "Save As...", and save it somewhere on your computer. If you then open Google Earth and open that file, it will display correctly in Google Earth.
If this does not work, please email us on support@bgis.sanbi.org

Online mapping

1. Open any of the online maps
2. Click on the Imagery at the bottom of the list of layers
3. Click in the box next to the layer for 1:50000 topocadastral sheets
4. If the box is greyed out you will have to zoom in above 1:475000 to see the layer on the map as it is not available below this scale. Alternatively you may click on the red star to zoom into the scale at which the layer is available. Note that the map will zoom to its centre.